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MISSING THE BOAT
Republicans
know how to focus on exactly what needs to be focused on. Democrats
do not.
Earlier today (on
the clever Fox
station) 'democratic strategist' Mary Ann Marsh was asked about
Rudy Giuliani. I would not bother to note her response, were it an
aberration. But for democratic strategists, it is not.
Paraphrasing [Ms. Marsh]: 'His problem is that he is a republican.
Polls show that most Americans do not support republicans right now,
and that they are going to have a really hard time in the fall
elections,' and then went on about how voters were tired of
republicans, and how 'even Newt Gingrich acknowledges this.'
This makes three
classic mistakes.
First, in essence, it handicaps the horse race, which accomplishes
nothing. Second, it tells voters how to feel, how they should be
feeling, or how they are feeling [which is far different than
connecting with how they are feeling], which is often worse than
accomplishing nothing.
Third, and most importantly, it fails to take the opportunity to
communicate the reasons why voters are tired of republicans, instead of
taking so much effort to explain that they are.
I don't know why democrats don't get this. For example, I will make this
suggestion to democrats, and they argue back, saying, "no, the democrats
lose because," and usually give reasons that; blame others, or are in
conflict with other democrats, or illustrate that the democrats they are
speaking of are in conflict with their own beliefs on this or that
particular thing, or that democrats are too liberal, or not liberal
enough, or fail to take this position, or fail to not take that
position. etc. As if that really mattered.
It does, somewhat, but it's not the heart of the matter. What is, is
communicating effectively, which trumps everything else put together. And here was yet another example of a democratic party
strategist in essence saying NOTHING that helped her party's
position. In contrast, the republican strategist took the opportunity to
make the effective (non whiny) case against democrats, as
republicans often do, whether asked to or not."
Ivan Carter
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